Brief History of Solar Observations

Abstract

Since the earliest times on record solar observing has been practised throughout the world as a means of understanding the seasons; megalithic monuments like Stonehenge and the solar alignment of the access tunnels to the burial barrows (the passage tombs of Maes Howe and Newgrange immediately come to mind) stand as evidence of the importance of the Sun to our ancestors. Our lifestyle has been determined by the daily rising and setting of the Sun. The solar phenomena of total eclipses have influenced governments and counties worldwide—and unfortunately for some early astronomers who got their calculations wrong also cost them their heads. During the reign of Tchong-Kang in China, in 2155 BC two unfortunate mathematicians Ho and Hi failed to accurately predict a solar eclipse and were put to death for their negligence.